Workers' Edge

A family member contacted me this morning about a problem a friend of his was having in Microsoft Word. It seems there were little dots in every blank space, paragraph marks at each "carriage return," and other formatting symbols that she didn't want to see.

To hide formatting in Word 2003, click Format > Reveal Formatting (or press Shift-F1) and uncheck "Show all formatting marks."

Uncheck "Show all formatting marks" in Microsoft Word's Reveal Formatting pane to hide the unwanted symbols in your documents.

(Credit: Microsoft)

In Word 2007, change this option by clicking the Office button in the top-left corner, choosing Word Options, selecting Display in the left pane, and unchecking "Show all formatting marks."

Deactivate formatting marks in Word 2007 via the Display window in the Word Options dialog box.

(Credit: Microsoft)

We now return you to your Web browsing, already in progress.

Some programs are more trouble than they're worth.

I'm a big fan of the PDF file format. It lets you share files with people using almost any type of computer without worrying about whether they have the right program installed to view it, or whether it will look to them the way it looks to you.

The problem is Adobe Systems' Acrobat, which is simply more software than I need to meet my meager PDF requirements. (It's also more annoying than any two Office apps combined.)

The fact is, you can create, convert, and edit PDF files without adding any software to your system. And if the files you work with are small in size and number, you can do so without paying a dime by using the Zamzar e-mail-based conversion service.

Files converted, delivered to your in-box
Have you ever wished you could open a PDF file in Word? There are plenty of programs that let you convert a PDF to Word's .doc format (or some other file format that Word supports), but you can manage the same trick for free at Zamzar.

Just select the file on your PC, choose the format you want to convert it to from the service's drop-down list (it supports many different image, text, audio, and video formats), enter your e-mail address, and click the Convert button. In just a few seconds, an e-mail arrives with a link to a page on the Zamzar site from which you can download the converted file.

Convert PDFs to other formats for free at Zamzar.com.

(Credit: Zamzar)

Zamzar is free for files smaller than 100MB and up to five concurrent conversions. The service gives you one week to retrieve the converted file. For $7 a month you can convert files as large as 200MB, have up to seven conversions at one time, and store up to 5GB of files on the service. If you pay $16 a month, the file-size limit expands to 400MB, concurrent conversions to 10, and online storage to 20GB. The top-tiered service costs $49 a month for converting files as large as 1GB, up to 15 simultaneous conversions, and 100GB of storage.

The fee-based services also give you higher-priority delivery of your converted files, a personal in-box, ad-less pages (with the top two tiers), and the ability to delete and rename your files. The most expensive plan also lets you encrypt your converted files.

Use Gmail's built-in 'conversion'
An even quicker way to get a different view of your PDF files is to attach them to an e-mail you send to your Gmail account, and then click View as HTML to open the file in your browser, though this shows you only the text of the file. Then you can save it as an HTML or text file and reopen it for editing in Word or some other application.

Tomorrow: confessions of a Linux newbie.

Recently an associate whose PC lacked Adobe Acrobat sent me a Word file via e-mail, asking if I could convert it to PDF and e-mail it back to her. Since the process took all of about 30 seconds, I was delighted to help. Then the next day she sent two more files in need of conversion to PDF, and a couple of days after than another. After her fourth request of the week I felt compelled to tell her about two ways she could have converted the files herself for free: Adobe's own Create Adobe PDF Online free trial, and Arco Software's great CutePDF Writer freebie.

If you use Office 2007 you can download Microsoft's free Save as PDF or XPS utility, which adds the ability to convert files to PDF or Microsoft's competing XML Paper Specification to all eight applications in the suite. The great thing about CutePDF Writer is that it works with programs other than Office 2007. See below for more.

Slow and limited, but readily available: Create Adobe PDF Online
I've used Adobe's free PDF-conversion service for years, and while the $10-a-month service ($100 for one year) used to allow you to create 10 PDF files for free, that number has been reduced to five free conversions, which is sufficient for people who rarely have the need to make a PDF. (If you need more than five files converted, sign up for a new free e-mail account and re-register with that address.)

The downside to Adobe's free trial is that you have to register, and you have to wait for your PDF to be delivered. Otherwise using the service is straightforward. After you sign up, click Convert a file (you can also choose Convert a Web page), enter the path to the file/page you want to convert, or click Browse and navigate to the file.

Enter the path to the file you want to convert to PDF, and click Continue.

Click Continue to open the Conversion Settings window. Here you select the type of output you want to optimize the file for (Web, Print, etc.), password-protect and otherwise limit use of the file, and select a delivery method.

Optimize your PDF for print or viewing on the Web via these options.

The default delivery method is to have a link to the PDF e-mailed to you, but you can also choose to have the file sent to you as an e-mail attachment, wait for the file to open in your browser, or download the file from your account's Conversion History page.

Choose the delivery method for your PDF file: e-mail link, e-mail attachment, open in browser, or download from server.

After you click the Create PDF button, you receive a confirmation of the conversion that tells you how long you'll have to wait for the file to be available. When I tested the service, I had to wait a little less than 25 minutes for the file to be delivered, which seems like a long time to me. You're also informed that you have 72 hours to retrieve the file.

The confirmation screen lets you know how long you'll have to wait for your PDF file.

Fast and full-featured: CutePDF Writer
If you have more than the occasional need to convert a file to PDF, downloading and installing CutePDF Writer is a faster and simpler approach. The program installs in just a few seconds, though it requires a second program, which it downloads automatically--after you grant it permission--as part of the installation process. Once it's in place, simply open the file you need to convert in the application of your choice, choose File > Print, and select CutePDF Writer in the drop-down list of available printers. The utility opens a Save As dialog box, where you can rename the file and choose where to store it. What could be simpler?

Which makes me wonder why anybody would choose Adobe's clunky and limited online PDF-conversion service over a free utility such as CutePDF Writer. Perhaps they have an aversion to downloads, though this one lacks ads, spyware, or other unwanted companions. Or they may be using a PC other than their own and need a one-time conversion that doesn't entail a download. Still, downloading, installing, and using CutePDF Writer is faster and simpler than using Adobe's service even after you've completed the initial sign-up. I guess this is one of those computing areas where the online version can't match the desktop approach.

Monday: disk management and optimization made simple.

Tuesday, I described how to convert the outline of a Word document into a Powerpoint presentation automatically. I stated that this feature was missing in Word 2007, but Tim Anderson explained in his ITWriting blog that the function was still there, though you had to dig a little to find it: Click the Office icon in the top-left corner, choose Word Options at the bottom of the dialog, click Customize in the left pane, select All Commands in the Choose Commands From drop-down menu, scroll to and select Send to Microsoft Office Powerpoint, and click Add to place this option in Word's Quick Access toolbar, which appears just to the right of the Office icon.

That got me thinking about the other useful features that Word makes difficult to find. Here are five neat tricks in Word 2003 and 2007 that you may not know about.

1: Keep your paragraphs together
Too often Word breaks pages in exactly the wrong place, making printouts of your documents difficult to read. The Paragraph dialog box gives you more control over the appearance of your printouts. To open it in Word 2003, click anywhere in the paragraph and choose Format>Paragraph; in Word 2007, click the small arrow in the bottom-right corner of the Paragraph section under the ribbon's Home tab. In both versions, check Keep with next (which is selected by default in Word 2003), and Keep lines together, which prevents a paragraph from being split between two pages. If you'd like a paragraph to begin a page, check Page break before.

Control the appearance of your printed documents by selecting these options under the Line and Page Breaks tab in Microsoft Word's Paragraph dialog box.

2: Change a document's date automatically
I frequently reuse the same Word file, changing only the date and one or two other items. It's simple enough to select the old date and start typing the new one until Word's auto-fill feature kicks in to display the current date, which it adds when I press Enter. Now I save myself even those few keystrokes by using a Date and Time field set to the current date: Place the cursor where you want the date to appear, and in Word 2003, click Insert>Field. In Word 2007, choose the Insert tab and click Date & Time. In Word 2003, click Date in the Field names window. In both versions, choose your preferred date format. In Word 2007, check Update automatically. Finally, click OK.

Add the current date to your documents in Word 2003 via the Date and Time options in the Field dialog box.

3: Fit more text on a single page
In addition to the file backups you create yourself, Word keeps backups of the files you've opened recently by default. Still, there may be times when you want to print an archival copy of a lengthy Word document. Save paper by reformatting the document to fit more text per page.

Start by pressing Ctrl-A to select the entire file, and then in Word 2003, click Format>Font. In Word 2007, click the small arrow in the bottom-right corner of the Font section under the Home tab. Choose a smaller font size, though keep in mind that anything smaller than 6 points will be difficult to read without a magnifying glass.

Next, make the margins smaller by clicking File>Page Setup in Word 2003, or Page Layout>Margins>Custom Margins in Word 2007. Change the Top, Bottom, Left, and Right settings in Word 2007 to .16", and in Word 2003, set Outside to 0.07", Inside to 0.5", Left to 0.25", and Right to 0.25". These are the smallest you can have while fitting all text on the printout.

4: Print on two sides of the paper
You can print on both sides of the paper even if your printer doesn't support duplex printing by default, though you may have to flip and collate the paper yourself. In Word 2003, click File>Print; in Word 2007, click the Office icon and choose Print. If you see a "Manual duplex" option, select it and click OK. After the first side prints, you'll be prompted to place the paper back into the input bin, blank side up. Do so and click OK again to print the second side.

If you don't have a Manual duplex option in your printer settings, you can achieve the same effect by choosing Odd pages in the Print drop-down menu, then flip and collate the pages, return them to the paper tray, and click Even pages. Your printer may also have an option to print more than one page per sheet, though this option may render the text unreadable, so test it on a sample page before using it to print a long file.

5: Place an object on its own page
Suppose you have an Excel worksheet you want to place on its own page in the middle of a Word document, and you want the page to print in landscape orientation while the rest of the document is in portrait mode. Piece of cake!

Place the cursor where you want the new page to begin, and click Insert>Break>Next page>OK in Word 2003, or Insert>Page Break in Word 2007. Copy and paste the worksheet into the Word file, and repeat the steps to create another page break at the end of it. Now select the page, and in Word 2003, click File>Page Setup>Margins>Landscape; in Word 2007, choose Page Layout>Orientation>Landscape.

One feature in Microsoft Word has saved me more time than all the other doodads in the program put together: Styles. I frequently edit Word documents created by other people. The first thing I do after opening their files is to reformat them so they're easier for me to work on. I created a handful of styles that let me make the changes in an instant via custom keyboard shortcuts.

The favorite font style of one of the tech writers I work with regularly is 10-point Bookman Old Style, which I find close to unreadable. Another writer I edit insists on double-spacing every Word file he sends me, which has worn my Page Up and Page Down buttons to nubs. Just four custom paragraph styles let me reformat the fonts, spacing, and other attributes of their documents in seconds.

In Word 2003, click Format*Styles and Formatting to open that pane on the right side of the screen, and then choose the New Style button. In Word 2007, click the arrow in the bottom-right corner of the Styles box under the Home tab, and select the New Style icon in the bottom-left corner of the drop-down box. In both versions, give the new style a name that differs from any of Word's built-in styles. For instance, I called my top heading style "hed1," my author byline style "byline1," my secondary headings "subhed1," and my primary paragraph style "graf1." After you enter the style name, select its attributes.

I'm using only paragraph styles in this example, but you can also create custom styles for characters, tables, and lists; you'll find more information on Word styles on Microsoft's Word training site.

Reformat Word documents in a jiffy by applying custom styles.

Word 2007 brings back the linked paragraph styles that were available in Word 2002 but removed from Word 2003. This option lets you link paragraph and character styles, so you can apply a paragraph style to just a portion of the paragraph by creating a hidden character style. From what I've read on the Internet, this feature is buggy, so it is recommended that you avoid linked styles.

In the spirit of keeping things simple, I leave Normal selected in the "Style based on" dropdown menu, but I suggest changing the option in "Style for following paragraph" menu to anticipate what's going to come next in the file. So for hed1, I selected byline1 to follow, and for that style I selected subhed1, which is followed in turn by graf1.

After I select my preferred font style and size, spacing, and other options, I check "Add to template" at the bottom of the dialog box in Word 2003, and "New documents based on this template" in Word 2007 to make the styles available in all the files I open. (In Word 2007 keep "Add to Quick Style list" selected to keep them visible in this dropdown list.) After you click OK, the styles will be ready for you to apply by placing the cursor in the paragraph you want to reformat, and choosing the style from the list.

Unfortunately, this may require more clicks than you care to make, so before you close the new Style dialog box, assigned a custom keyboard shortcut to each of them: Click the Format button at the bottom of the dialog box, and choose Shortcut key. Now click in the "Press new shortcut key" box, and type your preferred keystrokes; I recommend beginning the shortcut with the Alt key to avoid assigning a shortcut that already has some other function. (If you use a key combination that currently has some other use, it will appear below as "Currently assigned to.") For example, I assigned hed1 the keystrokes Alt-H, byline1 got Alt-B, subhed1 is applied when I press Alt-S, and paragraphs are reformatted when I press Alt-G.

When you're done adding your preferred keystroke combinations, click Assign*Close*OK. To make a change to one of your custom styles, right-click it in the Styles and Formatting list in Word 2003, or the Quick Style list in Word 2007, and select Modify. You'll have to recheck "Add to template" or "New documents based on this template" because Word automatically reverts to the its default option not to add it to the template ("Only in this document" in Word 2007).

Tomorrow: Stay out of trouble at work by knowing and following your employer's rules for using company-owned equipment on your own time.

I've never trained an elephant, but I imagine the process is similar to that of getting your Microsoft Excel worksheet to look just right. Here are five of my favorite Excel formatting tricks.

Double-click to fit columns and rows
When you enter or paste text and numbers into Excel, the cells don't expand to fit their contents. The fast way to autofit columns and rows is to hover your mouse over the header border between the column and its neighbor to the right, or between two rows at the far left of the worksheet. When the resize icon appears, double-click.

Convert one column into two
Suppose you have a list of full names in a column, and you'd like to separate the first names from the last names. In Excel 2003, select the column and click Data*Text to Columns. In Excel 2007, click the Data tab, and select the Text to Columns button. In both versions, choose Delimited (unless all the entries are the same length, in which case you can select Fixed width), click Next, and check Space (or whichever option applies; see the screen below). You can leave "Treat consecutive delimiters as one" checked. Click Next again to view data-formatting options, and then Finish.

Select Space (or whatever separates the items in the column you wish to split) to create two columns where there once was one.

At this point, you may want to change the order of the columns. To do so, simply select the column header, right-click the selection, and choose Cut. Now click the header of the blank column you want to place the cut cells in, right-click, and select Insert Cut Cells.

Paste formatting with one keystroke
If you'd like several disconnected cells to share a format, such as bold text and a background color, it can be a hassle to select each cell one at a time, open its cell-format dialog box, and make the changes you want. Instead, reformat one of the cells, and then select all of the others by pressing Ctrl, and clicking them one by one. Once they're all highlighted, press F4 to apply the formatting to all of them at once.

See your page breaks
I've been surprised so often when trying to print a worksheet that I automatically preview everything before I send it to the printer. You can get Excel to give you a visual cue about your page layouts by having it display page breaks. This option is the default in Excel 2007, but if your page breaks aren't showing, click the Office button, select Excel Options at the bottom of the window, choose Advanced in the left pane, scroll in the right to the display options, check Show page breaks, and click OK. Page breaks don't appear by default in Excel 2003 worksheets, so to show them, click Tools*Options*View, check Page breaks under Window options, and click OK.

Freeze your column headings
Scrolling through a big worksheet becomes a guessing game once you lose sight of the column headings. To keep them in view as you move down the rows in Excel 2003, select the row directly below the headings, and click Window*Freeze Panes. In Excel 2007, click the View tab, choose the Freeze Panes button, and select Freeze Top Row.

Monday: Get more out of your browser.